The Career Pack
by Panthers of darkness16
Summary: The time of the games is upon us. This there will be some changes on how things turn out. The careers are allowing a tribute from one of the outlying districts join. Not uncommon, but when this tribute has trained with the careers thing begin to get intesrting. Holding the attention of Cato Atko is no small feat. The question is who is she?


**A/N: I do NOT own the hunger games plot or characters. They belong to Suzanne Collins. Quite a bit of this chapter is similar to the book and that is simply because I wanted to make a few changes. **

When I wake up, the other side of th bed is meant Prim must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping. I get up quietly and get dressed before doing my hair in its usual braid. As I put my boots on I notice that damn cat isnt sitting watching Prim sleep. Almost out the door i see the stupid animal and he hisses at me to which i reply " I`ll still cook you." To that i recieve no answer. I make my way out of the house and through our part of the district we call it the Seam. Normally this time of the morning you will find miners filling the streets on their way to the days work in the mines, but seeing as today is Reaping day most people are taking advantage of beingabl to sleep in and spend more time with their children before two this afternoon. I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire loops. The fence is suosed to be charged at all times but rarly is. Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Hearing nothing i slip through a small gap in the fence and head for the trees. Not many people are brave enough to venture int the woods without weapons but i feel safe enough as soon as my fingers find the bow my father had made for me. Its one of the few things i have to remember him by. As i wander farther into the woods and head to the meeting spot i share with one other person. Gale.

"Hey, Catnip," says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. Gale holds up a piece of bread withan arroow sticking out f it. Ilaugh and sit next to him pulling out the piece of cheese Prim left out for us a gift.

"What did it cost you?" I asked

"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning," says Gale. "Even wished me luck."

"Prim left us a cheese." I showing him the cheese.

His face breaks into smile. "Thank you, Prim. We'll have a real feast." He says then adds, "I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!" He grabes a few berries from the bushes hiding us. "And may the odds —" He tosses a berry in my direction.

I catch it in my mouth and I finish"— be ever in your favor.I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. I cant help but watch him and think we could be related n how clse we look to each other but all families in the seam resemble one another in a my mother and sister differ form the dark hair, grey eyes and pal complection. Prim gets it from our mother whowas born and raised in the merchant side of town working in her family apothecary. She only left after meeting my father and moving to the seam with the one person she came to love dearly. I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type.

Gale spreads thecheese over the bread slices and i grab some more berries to go with our small feast. As we settle down to eat we glance about the valley invisible to all. We sit quietly looking around thinking about today. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue and not a cloud in the sky but a heavyness hangs in the air. As i dread standing in the square at two o'clock waiting for the names to be called out.

"We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly.

"What?" I ask.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," says Gale.

I don't know how to respond. The idea is so preposterous.

"If we didn't have so many kids," he adds quickly.

They're not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale's two little brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us? Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more? With both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool, still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs growling.

"I never want to have kids," I say.

"I might. If I didn't live here," says Gale.

"But you do," I say, irritated.

"Forget it," he snaps back. For a few seconds i am perplexed. Why would he even suggest leaving the district when i have Prim and my mother to think about and he has his family. Gale lost his father in the same accident that claimed mine. I ofte think back to the day we met. I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and although he was only two years older, he already looked like a man. It took a long time for us to even become friends, to stop haggling over every trade and begin helping each other out.

Anyway if Gale really wants kids it wot be hard for him to find wife. All the girls whiser as he goes by in school and talk about how good looking he is. It makes me jealous but only because i would lose my hunting partner if he chose someone to marry. "What should we do today? Hunt, gather or fish" I ask.

"Let's fish it will be a nice to enjoy tonight once we are home." He says

Tonight. After the reaping, normally everyone celebrates, well everyone but the two families whos kids get chsen for the games. We do pretty well today and once we are done fishing we head to the Hob, the black market of district 12. It was once the building used to hold coal but once an easier method was founded the hob took over residency. We trade a few of the fishes for things our families need and give the greens we managed to find to Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells bowls of hot soup from a large kettle in exchange she gives us couple of chunks of paraffin. Gale and I divide our spoils, as we have always done since we stoped fighting and became friends.

"See you in the square," I say.

"Wear something pretty," he says flatly.

At home, I find my mother and sister are as about ready for today as theywill get. My mother is wearing a simple dress while Prim wears the outfit i did on my first reaping day.A tub of waits for me to scrub myself clean for the reaping. Once i get out and have dried myself off i wrap the old towel around myself and head to my room to find a soft blue dress laying on the bed for me with shes to match. Once i m dressed my mother comes in and does my hair and i let her. I try to give her some things that she believes she is needed for. Prim comes in as my mother finishes putting my in place and comments on how pretty i am. I then notice she has a tail in the back of her shirt.

"Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say, smoothing the blouse back in place.

We then head to the kitchen to eat a small quiet meal before the reaping. At one o'clock, we head for the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not, you'll be imprisoned.

The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the effect.

People file in silently and sign in. Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the bullet would be much space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. The square's quite large, but not enough to hold all of districs 12`s popuation.

I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam. We all exchange terse nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Two of the three chairs fill, Mayor Undersee, who's a tall, balding man, and Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit. They murmur to each other and then look with concern at the empty seat.

Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch — this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. That we have little chance to survive another rebellion.

The Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation.

Haymitch Abernathy, happens to be the only victor that we have though is drunk like and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She goes on a bit about what an honor it is to be here, although everyone knows she's just aching to get bumped up to a better district where they have proper victors. Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me with a ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least has a slight entertainment factor.

It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always does, "Ladies first!" and crosses to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that it's not me.

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And my nightmare has come to life.

It's Primrose Everdeen.

A/n: please review and let me know what you think. Welcome to any and all suggestions. thanks!


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